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Matt Vogel
Matt Vogel (born October 6, 1970) is a puppeteer who has worked for Sesame Workshop since 1996. On Oobi, he was a regular puppeteer. He played Angus and many incidental characters. He has inherited many Muppet roles from longtime performers Jerry Nelson, Steve Whitmire, and Caroll Spinney. He was notably cast as Kermit the Frog's new performer in 2017 and has been Big Bird's main performer since 2018, after many years of understudying for the character. Matt's first performance for the Jim Henson Company was in 1994 as an understudy for the Coca-Cola Polar Bear. On Sesame Street, he started out as a right-hand assistant for David Rudman (whose brother, Adam, was one of the staff writers for Oobi). Matt eventually became Caroll Spinney's understudy for Big Bird. He is currently the puppet captain of Sesame Street and has been a director since 2009. Matt's earliest credits were almost always assisting or supporting roles. He was an ensemble puppeteer on Sesame Street, Big Bag, Between the Lions, and Play with Me Sesame before joining the cast of Oobi as Angus. Notably, Angus was the first named character role that Matt originated. All of his previous work was as an assistant for another performer's puppet, or as an ensemble puppeteer for unnamed background characters. In theater, Matt was involved in The Foreigner and Six Degrees of Sparation. He also puppeteered Audrey II and various other puppets in the 2003-04 Broadway adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors. There, he worked alongside Oobi's prop and puppet designer Martin P. Robinson, who was also the puppet builder for both the film and stage versions of Horrors. In July 2017, Matt Vogel was cast as the new performer of Kermit the Frog. In October 2018, he became the full-time performer of Big Bird after Caroll Spinney's retirement. Oobi Angus Noggin TV Show Character.jpg| Angus Oobi-Grown-Up-firefighters.png| One of the firefighters Oobi-astronaut-costume.jpg| Astronaut in "Grown-Up!" Oobi Ray.jpg| Ray in "Sing!" Oobi-Sing-singing-group.png| Unnamed characters * The Muppets - Various characters ** Most roles originated by Jerry Nelson (e.g. Floyd Pepper, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry) ** '80s Robot in The Muppets ** Constantine in Muppets Most Wanted ** Kermit the Frog (since 2017) * Sesame Street - Various characters ** Big Bird (since 1997; full-time since 2018) ** Count von Count (full-time since 2013) ** Baby Bear (assistant) ** Ernie (assistant, 2000-03) * Big Bag - Ensemble puppeteer * Bear in the Big Blue House - Ensemble puppeteer * The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland - Ensemble puppeteer * Play with Me Sesame - Assistant for Ernie * Sesame Beginnings - Baby Big Bird * A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa - Various characters * The Muppets (2011 film) - Floyd Pepper, Camilla, Sweetums, '80s Robot, various characters * Monstruos Supersanos - Dr. Ruster * Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration - Alex * Muppets Most Wanted - Constantine, various characters * The Muppets (2015 series) - Main puppeteer * The Furchester Hotel - Big Bird, Count Von Count * Official Site * Mighty Weaklings Official Site * Toughpigs.com- Interview * Dramatics Magazine interview Category:Crew